After market renders

[Der Meister]

I was just wondering what render do you prefer and why. the reason is i may want to get on in the near future. so i wanted to know what you all thought about each one. thax...

Also along the same lines well kind of... i was thinking of updating my video card. im looking at the ATI 800xt with the PCI x 16. any other good card out there using the PCI x 16 slot?

[ross_coe]

i guess it depends what 3d app you're using as to what renderer is best.

if you're using max you'd probably be best to go for brazil :) it's got some good materials, lights, cameras etc etc....and i think the renderer is good, and gives you lots of control over the image
i've tried final-render for max as well....which has pretty much the same features as brazil....but i found it a bit slower :p although i dont know if that was due to hardware or something like that

of course, max, maya, and softimage all come bundled with mental ray. i've only really had a quick try of mental ray with maya, so i'm not sure how good it is. a few of my friends have tried it in max but they didnt really like it that much :p but i guess it all depends on how much of your own time you invest in learning and experimenting with all the settings :)
(btw....I believe digital tutors do some good in-depth mental ray for maya training videos)